The Rat Pack
by Chamoky101
Summary: The story of Douglas Rattmann of Aperture Science starting from Lab Rat  all characters belong to Valve . Travelling with him, as he tries several times to escape, his trusty Weighted Companion Cube. He guides Chell without her knowledge and stays alive.
1. Chapter 1: Escaping The Claws

A/N: To all who read, this I thank you personally for taking time out of your busy day. Thank you. It would be great if you actually took some more time to review or comment or whatever. Thank you again. This is the start of my fanfiction to Portal and Portal 2 Most of this chapter is a written version of Lab Rat but there will be original writing followingI promise you this. It's actually in the works as I type this. I hope you enjoy.

Blood dripping from his wound, he crawled over to the final resting place. There he would be alive and dead just like her. He could only hope She would forgive him for all the trials he made her do.

_Not that She would say anything, anyway._

"Oh shut up, that's not funny right now." He coughed and blood came dripping out of the corner of his mouth. He grabbed the grey cube that was beside him. For him it shone a pinkish glow. Perhaps it was part of the side effects of his disease, not that it mattered after so many years. He heaved it up carried it in a satchel behind his back, like Santa's bag of joy and wonder, most of the corners peeking out. "You're getting heavy. Did you know that?"

_You could just leave me behind._

"Like I'd do that, I need you. I told you this earlier wh-" A coughing fit stopped his sentence short. More blood this time. The pain from his thigh wasn't helping. He thanked whatever was out there that the cryogenic chamber wasn't far.

The journey seemed to take an age with a shot leg, a cube, and several bloody coughing fits. The hall ways were spinning and the edges of his vision were getting fuzzier and darker by the minute.

_It's here, on your right._

"OK." He stopped and didn't even think about doubting his companion. He had no reason to, not after all they had been through. After all the trails he passed through with her. Not that she really had a was different for everyone as GLaDOS had nicely reminded him at every other opportunity it even had one for her. GLaDOS always referred to it as a male. Even though he told her that it was a female. No fear of that any more, She bet GlaDOS. She bet the manic computer. She had set everyone and him and Cube free.

Free.

He had seen even seen the sunlight. The warm blinding sunlight was something Cube had never seen before. Even then she only had it for a brief moment. The Party Escort found her. An AI that was more or less outside the mainframe, a joke made by the employees based on the brief picoseconds that GLaDOS was on. It actually shouldn't be possible, but as coincidence would have it.

She collapsed in that stupid position. The AI's only function to escort anyone in the party position to the party or in case of mainframe failure to the long term relaxation cyro-chamber and await further instructions. The AI had other uses as well, but to be honest it didn't perform them very well. In fact, he performed them terribly and he was constructed to do. A joke AI, merely there to annoy and distract, carrying out the one thing he could do.

It was a horrible moment for him. Should he run away and be free while his saviour is locked away possibly forever? Or go after them, hopefully save her and get killed?

_You don't have to go back in there._

It made sense. Walk away be free, forget the terrible years. Sacrifice Her, just as he had done before but… "I can't just walk away."

_You're right. Walking is too slow. Run away._

"Running is what I've **been** doing. Running and hiding." Like a rat fleeing from the cat claws. Here he was, ready to leap back in to its claws.

_It's why you're still alive. You're not a hero. Heroes die._

Tempting. So very very tempting. With the right nudge he would follow that sweet sweet voice of desire. Things were different this time. He could do the same for Her as She did for him. Only She didn't know and She didn't have a choice. He knew what dangers there were and he had a choice if he wanted to face them. The answer was obvious.

No.

No, he didn't want to follow them. No, He didn't want to face the dangers. No, he didn't want to go back through the tunnels in which he had been hiding all these years, slowly going crazy. No, he didn't want to make the choice.

But he had made the choice. A horrible feeling, a small truth in his brain somewhere told him what to do. He had to follow it.

"You don't understand, it's my fault she's down there. I'm not leaving Her." The same way she had not left him. Unknowingly freed him and helped him. He had to do the same. "I would have been trapped forever if not for Her." That was the truth. He was exiled from all he had known. He had run out of luck. It was only a matter of time before she would have gotten him.

_Listen, it's too dangerous. You're going to get killed._

Tempting voice. Oh sweet tempting voice don't stop. "So be it. But I'm done running. I have to at least try and save Her."

_Then you are really crazy._

He ran through all of his hidden tunnels and passages. That way they would be able to find him and Cube together._ I'm not feeling so good. Those pills you took… I th__ink the medici__ne is __starting to work_

She was right. The medication was starting to work only now when everything was nearly done, when he needed her the most. He started to run faster leaping down whole stairs, sliding down pipes trying to get faster.

It was like the time GLaDOS was after him. Weapon-less, afraid, exiled and going crazy. Those times when Cube was his only comfort.

_Soon you w__on't need me an__y more, Doug…_

Panting up stairs, he wheezed out one sentence, unsure if she'll ever hear it. "I'll always need you." That was true. Through too much together and much more to see. Cube still had to see a deer. He was a deer while outside. At least he thought he did. Maybe it was the drugs talking, Or memories or lonely nights. Who knows. All he knew was that Cube didn't see the deer and he wanted to show her.

Throwing himself around the corners and through the passages he knew so well after so many years. He only had to get to the cryo-units before AI. The passages seemed to get longer and longer. Then he reached them.

"No."

Such a simple word. Only one syllable. Only one constant. Only one vowel. So much weight behind it, it could crush him. The 5 pound cube on his back became so much heavier. Its 1 foot cubic volume became so much bigger. At least that was the way it felt.

"They've already put her in long term relaxation…" At least he could take his time now. After all the long term cryo-relaxation units were hooked up to the main grid…

Which was blown out… by the explosion…

He had to check it out. Running again, hiding from turrets, the same as before. Everything was too fast, he was under more pressure than before when hiding from GLaDOS. Back then it was only his life he was holding on to and Cube's of course but he was sure Cube could manage on her own. She survived so far even without him. Swiftly moving through the narrow spaces Rattmann moved towards the control centre. Just two more corners. Last corner. He slid out only to scrabble back before all the red lights on him were followed by bullets. At the last second, he managed it not to have any of his limbs turn in to Swiss cheese.

"Okay, do I dive left or right?" He asked Cube. The lack of answer unnerved him. Then the memory of medication flashed through his mind. "Hello? Are you still back there?" The lack of answer made him sad and the task in front of him 10 times more difficult. Unable to believe his friend was gone, he tryed again. Left or right? Don't make me guess." Still no answer from the satchel. "I'm running out of time!"

He wanted to scream at the cube. Furious that it won't answer him. Furious that it wouldn't accept his decision to return. Furious that his friend was gone.

Now wasn't the time for anger. If he had let anger control him all these years while hiding he would have died. Now was the time for action. It was simple really: Cross the room. Get past the turrets. Jump the rail and dive either left or right when the time came. Only one shot at it.

A deep breath. "Well, ready or not..." Then he ran for it. The cube bounced on his back awkwardly. He ran as fast as his over-tired body would let him. A small red dot appeared on his front as ran directly for the sentry turret. Then the high pitched voice of a computerised child came from one of their speakers, "There you are!" that gave him about 0.5 of a second before they start firing. He wasn't going to make it across the room on time but it was enough time for him to grab the nearest one and aim at the others. "Put me down!" was the only sign of resistance the deadly computer gun gave before targeting its fellow Ais. The turret shook and recoiled in his hands as it mowed down its comrades without a second thought. Doug Rattmann tossed the turret aside carefully. Nothing was worse then getting so far and being shot by the one thing shielding you.

He had seen it with other test subjects. They throw away the turret, it goes bonkers and shots everything it aims at. It even happens if the turret was knocked over. They were the most deadliest they that Aperture Science invented. Except of course for GLaDOS, she topped all of them.

So far he managed to clear the turrets or so he thought. After jumping the rail ahead of him he realised the mistake a turret had been placed there and it focus on him. "There you are!" The high pitched voiced machinery let out a stream of bullets that went everywhere. Doug ran but just as he passed the turret it got him. His left leg now gushed warm wet blood down his leg to his shoes. The pain and the exhaustion was enough to knock him out. He tried to resist the dark edges expanding over his sight. He had to move. Reaching out, he tried to grab for the cube that had fallen a few feet away. A few feet too far. The effort knocked him out. The turret folded back its guns.

"Good Night!"

The darkness started to fade. Light was returning. Doug know he was waking up simply because with the light also came the feeling of pain and a warm wetness. He started to heave himself up.

"How long was I out?" He asked himself the question without expecting an answer. He was alone after all.

_Long enough._

Long enough for what? Wait. Cube was there and talking. "You're back!" The shock nearly knocked him out again.

_I never left you. There something I want to ask you. How did you know about the girl?_

"Know what?"

_That she was the one._

"Just something in her file." Cube knew of the file. Doug carried it everywhere since he found it. She sadly couldn't read and perhaps it was for the best she couldn't. She might have been against all he did if she knew what he did from the beginning.

_She had the highest IQ?_

"No, some were higher."

_Then she had to be the fastest? Or the the most athletic?_

"No, nothing like that."

_Then what?_

"Just a hunch. You are asking a lot of questions today, Cube. "

_Yeah, yeah, now hurry and get up. You might still be able to save her._

"What?" Doug struggled to get up. He couldn't believe what Cube said. " How? I can't get inside the cyro-chamber."

_You can't save her but you can save her. You can patch her cyro-unit to the reserve grid._

He managed to drag his body to the console to try and sort out all the problems. She'll sleep indefinitely until someone wakes her up, he thought. After all the hardships all he could do for her was this. A long sleep and a request for forgiveness.

He got up on his shaky legs and made his way out of the room that was only light up with the blue light of the computer screen.

He struggled down the hallway with his damaged leg and coughing up blood. All he had to do was reach a cyro-unit and the unit will patch him while he slept.

Having reached the unit, his leg went under him and he was unable to lift himself so high to get in the unit. It was an impossible height, the 3 foot height.

"I'm so tired." He was so very close to giving up.

_You have earned a rest._

The cube was placed as close to the unit as possible. He shifted himself on top of the cube and rested there for about 10 minutes while Cube encouraged him to move on. Explaining to him what would happen if he didn't make it. How Cube would feel. The cube was his companion throughout the years and even know in front of the infinite unknown Cube only had words of encouragement. The pink heart in the centre of every face is a very good embellishment for her, thought Doug. The low humming that came from her soothed Doug.

If he could only stay like that for a long time. No more running away. No more hiding. No more voices. No more death.

He climbed the full way in to the cyro-unit. "See, I told you, I would always need you." The humming started and stopped from Cube indicating a chuckle.

_I'll be here waiting._

"Thanks, one more favour please? Here are the files of the girl. Please... Please keep them safe." The words were getting harder to say. He was just too tired. He placed the files on top of Cube, She would know what to do. She always did. A small smile lifted on his face. The unit closed and he breathed in the gas that would keep him here with Her, both alive and dead. They escaped the claws of the cat once more.


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

A/N: Thanks to all the reviews from the last chapter. Thanks guys!

I know that this chapter is very short in comparison to the last chapter. I do hope you enjoy it anyway. Grammer/Spelling corrections are welcome.

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><p>GOOD MORNING. YOU HAVE BEEN IN SUSPENSION FOR <span>FIFTY<span> DAYS. IN COMPLIANCE WITH STATE AND FEDRAL REGULATIONS, ALL TESTING CANDIDATES IN APERTURE SCIENCE EXTENDED RELAXATION CENTER MUST BE REVIVED PERIODICALLY FOR A MANDATORY PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELLNESS EXERCISE.

The cyro-unit woke him up to check on him. The nutrients were pumped in through the air so he was kept alive. They tested his movement but in the small area the movements were small and the tests more directed to the head. He panicked the first time they woke him. He thought GlaDOS had caught him. He wanted out then and there so bad that he scratched the turret-proof glass. It took him the whole test procedure for him to relies that he was thankfully safe. All was good.

He dreamt a lot lately, mostly of when he began in Aperture Science. Back when he was Douglas. He never understood why they chose him. In college, due a break down, the psychiatrist diagnosed with schizophrenia and mild paranoia. Ever since he was on Ziaprazidone, a knock off of Ziprasidone, only because he could afford this version, it was impossible for him to be employed. No one wanted someone who could fly off the handle at any second.

He saw the advert in the paper and heard it on the radio. He was under qualified for such a position but he handed in his resume to the post office. A month later there was no response. He believed that they had rejected him. Not surprised, he carried on his day to day business of attending the counsellor and told what not to do so his "sickness" wouldn't be set off. It was boring. He had nothing to do with his life.

He was contemplating on the pointlessness of it all when he got the letter for the interview. He was to actually meet the CEO of Aperture Science, a man named Cave Johnson. Douglas was anxious as he travelled across the country to Idaho. All he knew about Aperture Science was that they worked closely with the Military and that they were in competition with Black Mesa another military based company. He didn't like violence. He hoped that if the job had to do with weapons he would fail the interview. Well that was going to happen anyway, with one look at his medical and past it was done and dusted. No job for him. He might as well be there just for politeness sake.

Douglas, dressed in his best suit, turned up to entrance gate in the middle of the forest where a guard waved him in after just a look at him. He parked the rented car in the gigantic empty lot. He wondered about this briefly. Perhaps the workers stationed themselves close by and walked to work? It wasn't uncommon thee days with the radio and television explaining all of these things with pollution and green house gases. Perhaps that was it. He walked the 10 minute to the nearest building. The clipping of his shoes with hard soles accompanied him on his way there. The sound seemed to echo.

He came up to the small building. It was maybe 10 feet high and a square shape of roughly 8 feet wide. He knocked on the the shiny metal door unsure of what to do. While he waited for something to happen he had a good look at himself in the door. It was polished so well it could act as a mirror so he thought. He had a thick mop of black hair that refused to lie down perfectly. His eyes were different colours and he didn't like that. On was a dark brown almost black while the other was light and grey. The grey eye came from his first breakdown. He attempted to stab out his eye. He thought that was were the voices came from. All the voices telling him who to trust and who not to trust. If he got the voices out, then he would be normal right?

Except that wasn't the case. He was left with little sight in the eye. A world of darkness through it. He wore a navy suit rented because he couldn't afford a suit of his own, not with the medical and counselling costs. The doors hissed open suddenly giving Doug quiet a shock. He took a half step back and wondered what awaited him in this place.

Inside was an elevator.

It was for one man. It reminded him of the elevators miners used. He had seen them in the national geographic magazines at the counsellor's waiting room. The counsellor tried to be nice about the situation of Douglas getting a job interview, he encouraged him to go, a window of opportunity he called it. Douglas knew that the counsellor didn't believe that he would get the job. He should really just give up, he thought as he stepped in the elevator as there was no were else to go. He wondered why he was still going to the counsellor even though all he did was give the same advice each time. He knew what he had to do to avoid triggering the attacks. He had his medication. So why was he still going to him?

Possibly because he had no one else. His parents more or less gave up on him when they found out that they had a crazy son. He moved out shortly after and started to live on his own to avoid shaming them more than necessary. He was never very social with people. He would believe they didn't like him, that what to get rid of him, that they were watching his every move. He couldn't even explain why to himself. He didn't consider himself very smart or talented. He just always had this feeling of being watched. The voices he heard didn't help either.

Like right now, in this narrow tube rocketing downwards, Douglas thought the trip was taking too long. How deep could this place be? Where were he going? Question upon questions tumbled through his poor mind. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small bag. Inside were his pills. His safe haven. He swallowed two and regretted it immediately. He had nothing to drink with him to wash them down so the taste was horrible and the pills started to dissolve in his moth as he tried to swallow them whole resulting in them sticking to the back of his throat. He coughed for a bit. The pills got loosened and ended the turmoil. He would have to wait a good 30 minutes before the effect kicked in. It didn't matter because the elevator was still going down.


	3. Chapter 3: Waiting

When he finally reached the bottom he stepped out and felt a little woozy. It was quiet warm. The tablets had begun to work.

"Welcome Gentlemen to Aperture Science. Astronauts, War Heroes, Olympians, Scientists; you are here because we want the best, and YOU are it. So who is ready to make some science?"

The sentence emitted from the speaker to his right as Douglas stepped out. It frightened the hell out of him. Perhaps the tablets hadn't started to work yet. Gathering himself, he took a look around.

It was huge.

It was a massive cavern. They build everything inside the cave. He heard drilling above him. They couldn't be expanding, could they? There was surely enough space down here for what ever they want to do. It was already bigger than anything he had ever seen. There were gangways high above head where people were walking upon. Some in white coats, others in an orange suit. They were moving from spheres that were marked with strange strings of numbers and letters and colours. The elevator behind him sprung back into action. And moved back up at a horrifying speed. Douglas had a hard time believing that he went down in that.

"Excuse me? Are you Mr. Douglas Rattmann? Here for the job interview?" A light female's voice came from a tall lady. She was dress in a simple off-white dress. She had a small neat red and white scarf around her neck. She was holding a clipboard and was looking at him expectantly through brown eyes. She looked like a typical sectary.

Douglas was stared at her in wonder. She seemed so normal among all all of this chaos and unbelievable things. He nodded unable to speak. The elevator behind Douglas whirred as its compartment came whizzing down. He spun around to see what was going to happen. The lady behind him spoke again, "It seems as if Mr. Henry Vivek has arrived."

The man who stepped out of the elevator was tall. A least a bit taller than Douglas. He had a strong receding hair line. In fact in about twenty years it wouldn't surprise Douglas if he only had a halo of hair left. He nodded over to Mr. Vivek. He smiled back, seemingly ecstatic to be there. He was the type of person Douglas would avoid. He was too happy to be everyone's friend.

Caroline asked them to follow her. As they walked Mr. Vivek asked all sorts of questions to Caroline about the facility and about her. He was so excited. Caroline answered very politely and shortly. She seemed disinterested in him. Douglas just watched and observed everything. Henry gave up at some stage with Caroline and started to ask Douglas all sort off questions.

"So, was it a rough ride here for you? Did you have to travel far?"

"Far enough, I suppose." Douglas didn't like to give a straight answers. Why would Mr. Vivek want to know how far Douglas had to travel to get here? Could he tell where he came from? He tried to shake these thoughts from his mind but they eat away at his mind in the background.

"And how did you find out about the job?"

"Through the news, I suppose the same for you?"

"Yeah, It was in the radio and I thought, "Why not?" after all a job is a job better than the office. You know what that's like, right?"

"Yeah..." No, not really but he heard about it.

"What did you work at before?"

"I was for a long time unemployed." That was true, close enough anyway.

Henry kept asking questions and Douglas answered as well as him could. He didn't really like talking to him. He was uncomfortable. He didn't understand Mr. Vivek's motives by asking all these questions.

"Could you two please wait here? Thank you." With those as her parting words, Caroline walked off leaving the two men, one a little ruffled and scared while the other gathered and confident. From the outside it seemed so easy to tell who was more suited for this environment.

Mr. Vivek sat down in a comfy looking chair. Douglas opted for standing. He started one of his nervous habits: nail biting. He had a few nervous habits. Pacing and drawing were others. Vivek also started to show signs of nervousness. He ran his hand through his hair about every three minutes according to Douglas' watch. They waited in silence. After five times that the hair experience Vivek's hand that they heard the tapping of shoes. Caroline appeared and told Mr. Vivek that a Mr. Cave Johnson would see him now.

Douglas was on his own. This was both a relief and a stress for him. The relief came for the fact that he didn't have anyone in the room.

_Unless there are cameras on the wall..._

No, there where no cameras not that he could see.

_Not that you can see... they could be anywhere... They are made very small now... _

This was the stress full part for him. The doubts were creeping in. He was unremarkable. He didn't understand why he had those thoughts. He went to the bathroom and swallowed two more tablets.

He didn't know how long a job interview was. He could only hope that the tablets would work before then. What worried him was that he was taking more tablets over a shorter time now.

He left the bathroom with an uneasy feeling. He knew he was thinking irrationally therefore all his actions after that would also be irrational. It was proven in maths class if X is irrational then the square root of 2X is irrational.

Douglas waited in the room with the chairs for either Caroline or Mr. Vivek to return. He was getting lonely with just his treacherous thoughts. He sat down biting his thumb nail while looking at his shoes. They weren't the cleanest. He should have given them a wipe with tissue before he came here. He started to see all the little mistakes in his clothes and person. He suddenly took his finger out of his mouth as he hear the quick sound of footfalls again. It was Caroline's shoes again. He stood up and tried to not look guilty was Douglas attempted to dry his thumb in his pocket without it being seen.

Caroline smiled at him. He gave a shy smile back. Again she asked him to follow her. The walked down some corridor with strangely marked doors before curiosity over came him with the one door marked:

CAUTION!

Ground Moon Rock Storage

Reactivity Unknown

"Is moon rock really stored here?" He really wanted to know if they went to the moon. He was fascinated with space.

"Yes. We really store moon rock here." Again, very short answers.

"Wow! How much?"

"Several tonnes." SEVERAL TONNES. Douglas was visibly shocked by this vague number. He imagined perhaps smaller numbers like a few kilos. What can a person do with tonnes of moon rock?

Only a small "wow" escaped Douglas. The rest of the journey was spent in silence.


	4. Chapter 4: Shower Curtains

A/N: Sick of these yet? Yes? Tough luck... I'm still there. More characters introduced. I hope the time line is correct in this. I tried to find out but it seems murky. Any help on that would be nice. As usual some R&R is also good.

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><p>Cave Johnson wasn't a small man and by no means a big man either. He did have a presence though that made you pay attention to him straight away. Douglas sat in his office while Cave was in the room next door with Caroline and another man with a brief case. Douglas couldn't make out the words but the conversation started off calmly before Cave got angry and started to shout. Caroline spoke a few soft words which seemed to calm him down and very soon the two men were laughing again. Caroline reminded Cave that there was still an interview waiting and that he should go.<p>

He entered his small office and sat himself swiftly down across from Douglas. Caroline entered shortly after and gave Cave Johnson some files. She left after that but not before giving Douglas a small encouraging smile.

Mr. Johnson looked at briefly and placed them to the side. "So, Douglas Rattmann? Where does the name come from? Norway? Swedish?" He had a southern accent. Not too broad, but noticeable.

Douglas coughed to dislodge the ball of fear that had gathered in his throat. He never was in such a situation. The counsellor never really helped him. "It's... It's Dutch really." He stammered on further a sentence about his parents coming from there.

"Son, I'm going to be honest here with you. I'm looking for a few scientists. But not one of those out of college types who studied everything they know but don't know how the real world works. I'm looking for those who can see a new future. A new Science. A new future with Aperture Science. We need to move forward with science by breaking the rules and setting up our own ones. The old rules only brought us so far. I mean who set up the Laws of thermodynamics? Who says we should obey them? I don't care if it's impossible, we'll make it possible: By breaking the Law!"

Douglas was beginning to wonder if all interview were like that or if Cave Johnson was a mad man. Albeit a very rich mad man with a company, with military backing. Cave suddenly started to cough and hit the PA system next to him. "Caroline: Some water and painkillers please." He then continued to cough. Caroline entered with water that was fizzing. Douglas assumed that the painkiller was dissolving in the water. She placed it on the table and left straight after that. She seemed to be a busy woman. Cave's coughing slowed down as he drank the fizzing water.

Cave seemed to suddenly relies that Douglas was still there. "So, yeah, that's what I want from the lab boys. They just won't give it to me. Doug, do you know what Aperture means?"

Douglas frowned. He saw this once in college in the photography club. His parents thought he might be an artist of some kind. He never was that interested in photography more in to drawing but that didn't matter anyway since he moved out. Here he was, a crazy man asking a crazy man for a job.

"It's a... it's a hole... or opening of some kind... usually to do with shutters in photography." Douglas answered stammering through the sentence. He was so nervous. He's hands shook and he grabbed hold of his pants to stop them.

Cave seemed overjoyed with that answer. "Exactly, a hole. And Our science is going to fill it. We do what we must to fill that hole because we can. We need to fill that hole with our science. We need to fill it with something people want. People all need. What do need right at this minute in your home, son?"

Doug pondered that for a second what did he need? The apartment he was renting was falling apart but it was understandable he just couldn't afford any more. "A shower curtain would be nice."

Cave laughed at that. "I like you, Doug. You say what you think and you have a smart head on your shoulders. Now the bean counters in the department down below are asking that I go through this interview thing properly but do know what I say, son?"

Douglas shook his head to say no. It seemed the less he said the better.

Again this satisfied, Johnson, who smiled as if he just understood the idea of Christmas. "I say to hell with them. I run this place, so I can employ who ever I like and I'm employing you. Right now. Welcome to Aperture Science, Doug Rattmann!"

Johnson leaned back into his chair as if the deed was down just with that. He pulled out a cigar and lit it. Doug (he let himself be called that now) watched fascinated as the smoke curled around Johnson. As if the idea suddenly came to him and it was new Johnson sprang forward from the chair and asked: "When can you start?"

"Now, if possible." Doug surprised himself with that statement.

Johnson started to laugh at that. "Talk to Caroline about the paper work and what is required from you. You'll be on the Quantum Tunneling Device Project. Down in Test Shaft 9. Start as soon as possible."

With that Doug had a job. He couldn't believe it.

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><p>Caroline handed him the papers to sign and explained that almost everyone lived on site and that everything was provided for. Even shower curtains, she said with a smile.<p>

"Is there anyone you want to contact?" Caroline asked. As an answer to Doug's questioning face she carried on with, "Aperture Science encourages every social activity to occur on site. It could be implicated in to testing."

That made sense in a weird way. He called his parents to explain everything and that he'll contact when necessary. It simply meant never but it was more of a formal thing. Just to have contacted someone. He also called his counsellor to cancel any appointments and future appointments.

After that all that was left was get all of his belonging and move in to a small living space with no windows that he would call his. Not exactly what you call inviting he thought but still better than nothing. He had everything he deemed valuable and packed it in one trip. Waiting in his room was a computer on a small table with an office chair,a telephone, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a bed with two small bundles. A note lay between them.

Please choose one. Caroline.

The bundles were shower curtains. Now the joke got out of hand. She were making fun of him. He grabbed one and went to the door to give back the curtain when another person entered. He smiled when he saw Doug. "Hi, Douglas." He said simply waiting. Doug looked at him as if he was an alien. Who was he? "Oh! Mr...Vivek?"

The man smiled friendly, "He remembers! Call me, Henry. We'll be working together from now. I live a few doors down so far enough if I have to avoid you." He laughed lightly at his joke. Douglas smiled too unsure what to do now as Henry just strolled in and admired his room. "About the same size as mine I think," he commented, "I think you got the nicer sheets though on your bed. Did you bring them yourself?" He chattered on and on like that until he saw the curtains. "Aw, lucky bastard. Someone got the favour of the boss's secretary. Hey, can I have the other one if you don't want it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Doug's mind was numbed by his mindless chatter. Henry's face lit up as if he was given the best present ever. "Cool man."

He got up to leave, maybe hang up the shower curatin, but stopped at the door. "Oh, yeah. I meant to tell you; work begins at nine sharp. Be there or be square." Laughing at himself, Henry closed the door and left Doug to unpack his few earthly belongings thousands of miles below the earth.


	5. Chapter 5: Tier 3

**A/N:** Here's a short chapter. I'm not sure I'm happy with how it turned out but over the last week working on it. It was the best I could produce. I hope to change it around so the chapter may or may not stay up as it is not. As usual some good ol' R&R is nice. Hoping to move on to companion cube soon. I have a nice little idea with it.

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><p>Caroline popped in to give him papers about his work. She repeated Henry's message about when he has to be at work. She also informed him of his working group and were to be. Again she spoke in short crisp sentences. Doug took the papers from her gratefully ready to read up on what he was to be doing. She left quickly after all the information had been conveyed.<p>

He looked at the paper as he brought it to his table.

The title of the paper was "Tier 3: Portal Technology" The paper went on to describe what was expected and how the Quantum Tunnelling device should be improved. While Doug read, the only thought that came in to his head was that the tunnelling device sounded like a teleportation device. The were several problems with the current device. The main ones were that it was to bulky to use and had difficulties with certain conducting surfaces. The sever cases had mutilation or death involved. He was join the group that was to make the portal device smaller or lighter. He read until he fell asleep with the paper falling everywhere.

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><p>The next morning at 8.00 Doug peaked around the door in to the cold corridor. He was unsure of which way he was to go. He had forgotten the way out!<p>

He was dressed in a light blue jeans, a chequered beige and white lab coat he found in his wardrobe. He took a step outside his room and stood there like a small child at the first day at school. Nobody was around and he wandered to one end of the corridor. There was nothing there to indicate where Shaft 09 was. He turned around and went to the other end. Again nothing. He heard a door squeak open and there was Henry half dress with a pair of pants, runner and a yawn on his face. He bared his teeth at no one in particular when he noticed that Doug had walked up to him and was more or less watching him yawn. Henry screamed out loud in Doug's face. "What the hell are you doing?"

He was really waiting for him to finish. Doug had never seen anyone yawn that long. "I was waiting for you to finish. I wanted to ask you what way do you go to get out of here. I forgot." Henry sighed. "Fine. I'll show you the way. Gimme just a sec." Henry disappeared into his room for a minute and he reappeared with a a light blue shirt on. Henry looked as if he felt better now with his upper body covered. Doug followed Henry until they left all the living area rooms behind them. "So, what Tier what are you on?"

"Ah... Tier 3: The Portal technology."

"Awesome, I am too. So we are both going to shaft 9. That makes things easier for everyone." He smiled and ruffled Doug's black hair. "Don't make that worried face. You'll survive." Henry chuckled and made his way with Rattmann following.

The place was even bigger than Doug expected. Aperture Science under the leadership of it's founder, Cave Johnson, was built under ground in an abandoned salt mine. He had them dig deeper and expanded the mine to hold the tests spheres and even a dry dock. Doug heard (from Henry), that they were working on very special technology there. It was rumoured that Black Mesa was going to buy the finished product.

The test spheres, labs and offices were all connected by gang ways very very high in the air and by small one man elevators. Armed with pen and paper, Doug took small notes of everything Henry said from where the short cuts across the gangways were to anything he knew about the Alpha and Beta testing spheres that were marked blue and orange. In them were tests for repulsion and propulsion gels. They had failed as a diet aids but the military still had interest in them. As the couple crossed the gang ways, messages in Cave Johnson's voice came out from speakers with messages he obviously recorded along time ago. Henry giggled at one of them. It was about no dawdling on the gangways.

"These are back in the time of human test subjects. When it was still allowed, so about ten or fifteen years ago. It was phased out because the quality decreased dramatically over time. You don't have to worry about that though."

"Who were the test subjects?" Doug asked naively. The answer shocked him to the bones. "Oh, you know, those that couldn't contribute to society in a useful manner." The answer seemed a little learned off. Doug asked him to expand on that. "Like who? I mean people would have noticed if they all went missing?" Doug left off in a questioning tone. There was no who was going to miss him if he was forgotten in this building.

"Just, you know, like..." Henry was visibly uncomfortable with this topic. "those that don't have anyone to miss them or would otherwise be no good for anyone." Henry dragged Doug closer to him and whispered to him "Look, you'll hear the full story over time with the messages left behind, okay? Remember two things: that it lies in the past. It's not done here any more. The second is that these people at Aperture gave you a job. Some of the scientists still work with the test as a test subject but not many."

With that the topic was dropped from discussion, but it still swarmed in Doug's mind. He decided not to take any notes about that yet. He followed Henry without a sound after that.


	6. Chapter 6: A ManSized Gap

**A/N: **There. A proper chapter. Still unsure about the last chapter. Any opinions anybody? So, chapter 6 is here for now. Some R&R make me feel special :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: A Man sized Gap<strong>

There was a morning meeting where Doug was introduced to the group and the device that they were testing. One of the group leaders explained to him in detail how the machine worked and the sort of tests that they carried out with the machine. The pack was very heavy and cause in some people sever back pains. The tunnelling device only worked with smooth surfaces and had to be strapped on the back of the wielder. The quantum hole that was created was then very unstable and was of varying size but not large enough for one person yet. Doug listened carefully to what was said to him and he took notes but still a large amount of the information went over his head. One of the scientists said to him not to worry about it and that he'll figure everything out in time. There was a test with the pack where one of the scientist was to hold the pack while a little robot was push a white cube in through the hole that should appear. The machine on the man's back whirred in to life as he pulled the trigger. Light shone out the cracks in the device as he aimed at the wall. There was a loud bang and the man with giant pack flew backwards. He freed himself from the machine and looked the wall.

A small dark blue hole was on the wall. It was solid looking. It was as if someone had painted a black and dark blue mural on the wall. The hole was there for about half a minute before it disappeared in to a tiny shower if blue sparkles.

Another failure. The quantum hole had no end location and fold back on itself." The man who spoke then quietly cursed. Louder he said, "It's been happening a lot lately. Right for the report. Quantum hole established. Held for 37 second before collapse."

The rest of the day was of Doug listening and attempting to stabilise the machine and the quantum hole. There were very few advancements but according to the others this was common.

Doug returned to his tiny living space at the end of the evening feeling powered out. He read over his notes and some papers he was given. He began to understand what was going on. The quantum hole needed an initial location and a final destination. Without a final destination the hole folds back on itself and the starting location becomes the final destination. The machinery couldn't contain the energy required to open such a hole and back fired. It was even a surprise the machine functioned as it did today. They needed something with more energy. Also the hole would need to more stable These problems would give Doug some restless nights in the future but for now they seemed like small problems. His pills were diminishing fast. He was using them faster that he normally would have.

He left Caroline a message asking if it was possible to leave the facility to acquired now pills.

Routine started to settle in over the next few months until Mr. Johnson arrived down to their department. He was screaming at the scientists for not producing the required results. Some of scientist cowered in fear from his anger. Doug wasn't sure what was going on. Johnson wanted results faster but didn't want to listen when it was explain to him why. Johnson then started to cough violently. He gasped for air. His legs went under him and he fell to his knees. He had trouble breathing. "Caro... Caroline...line... I... I need..." What ever he attempting to say was stopped short by Caroline herself. No one moved as Caroline carefully helped Johnson drink a glass of water that was fizzy from the tablets. Everyone in the meeting room was silent while he drank. When Johnson was finished, he was more composed and began to ask questions and listened more but the answers were over his head.

"You, new boy." Johnson looked to Doug.

"Ah... Doug, sir."

"Explain to me simply why this doesn't work."

"Er.. Okay... Well as Mr. Harris explained the thermal energy produced in the device is overheating it and the quantity of energy supplied is-"

"STOP!" Johnson shouted. Breathing in he composed himself again. "I asked you to explain it simply and not what Mr. Harris said because I don't understand what Mr. Harris said, okay?"

Doug nodded.

"Okay, try again."

"Well, you see... the machine is getting to hot and it blows up from that. So we need to make a new kind of way to cool it down. Eh... We also can't give the machine enough energy to make the tunnel work properly. Until we solve those problems we can't start to try to and make it smaller." Doug was nervous. He heard a small whisper to the left of him.

"Well done. That's not what I wanted to hear but a dang load better than what I heard before. Okay first off all we need a new system in place for information communication. Caroline, I'll leave that up to you. Pick someone to sort that help you with it."

There were more whispers. Doug was now very nervous. He couldn't hear what the whispers said but he felt their intent. They weren't kind to him or Johnson. This made him even more nervous knowing that the others were speaking about him. Doug needed to get out of the room. The air inside the room had gotten heavier and seemed to crush his lungs.

But he couldn't leave. The whispers would become louder and more vicious. Also Johnson wasn't finished with giving out about his projects. Doug could only stand there and breath the heavy air. Johnson ranted on about how this Tier was falling far behind the others. Also about new project he wished to start. It involved computers and storing the human brain inside it.

Johnson continued to prattle while the scientists seemed to relax as soon as they realised that Johnson wasn't going to shout at them any more. Some even had the audacity to look bored as if this was a regular thing. The "morning meeting" as Johnson termed it was over after 3 hours.

Henry walked up to Doug. "Going for lunch?" Doug nodded. A perfect excuse not to be the same room as everyone else. As soon as the door of their lab was closed Henry started laughing. " Did you hear Cave?" he started to try and speak in Johnson's Broad southern accent. "I want results, you hear? I don't want anyone doing science without results! Anybody doing science without results is doing witchcraft and I'll have none of that here in MY COMPANY." Henry started to laugh again at himself and his horrible imitation. Reverting back to his normal voice he proclaimed very loudly. "That man is completely cookoo!" Henry lifted his left hand and swirled the air at his temple while saying that.

"I'd be careful of what you say Mr. Vivek. Remember that Mr. Cookoo has you employed and that he also gives you accommodation." Caroline step out from behind the corner. Again Henry found this very funny.

"Caroline were you listening behind corners? That's not very polite for a lady, you know." Henry looked thoughtful for a minute. "Or.." He drew out the O in the word like he was still think of how to say the next sentence. "... I'm that interesting that you have to hear everything I say."

"No, Mr Vivek. I don't find you interesting. I was on my way back to select the people for the groups involved in the Personality Transfer Programme and those in Imaging Information Committee. Which is to say: Mr. Rattmann."

Doug looked at Caroline in surprise. Since the interview day they hadn't spoken. It seemed so long ago. Caroline checked her paper briefly. "You are on the Information Committee. You are to meet at seventeen hundred hours in Lab 43. Mr. Vivek. You're on the Personality transfer. Same time, Lab 19. Good day. "

With that she left, the two standing in the corridor while she headed for the Labs presumably to group the others in her cold manner.

"Well there goes the Ice Queen. Cold as usual. Never understood why." He left that thought sit in the air for a moment. Doug had nothing to say to that. "Anyway, I wonder what's on the menu for lunch. I really fancy a chicken curry. With celery." Henry chattered away like that not asking Doug to respond. That was until the reached a cafeteria.


End file.
